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Guests: Jerry Vance, the Founder and Managing Partner of Preferred CFO, and Scott Crawford, a Partner at Preferred CFO focused on client prioritization and new business development.
Overview: A CEO who’s led their company past the “I’ll Do Everything” stage needs a true financial strategist at their side to stop surviving and start scaling. But the CEO also needs clarity on what kind of financial expertise their company truly needs at various stages of growth. Paying a full-time CFO to act like a glorified bookkeeper isn’t going to accelerate your trajectory. And a “CF-No” who builds a moat around your cash might not share the CEO’s bold vision for BIG.
On today’s show, Jerry Vance and Scott Crawford explore the state of the fractional CFO industry and why forecasting and five-year planning are strategic leadership tools, not just accounting exercises.
Jerry Vance on turning on your company’s “headlights”:
“We have to have the history in good shape. We need good accrual-based financials that tell us where we’ve been. Just like driving a car, it’s important to have the taillights on. But the next step that’s even more important is turning on the headlights. How do we become more forward-looking, forward-facing? We want to turn those headlights on to see the road ahead so that we can see obstacles before they hit the road. And if we can help companies become more forward-facing, forward-looking, they’re going to make better decisions. And we do that with forecasting and planning. Long-term plans, short-term plans, we want to have those plans in place. And then how are we going to finance it? Do we need to raise some money to get to where we want to go? What’s the goal? What’s the plan? And then what kind of financing is it going to take? First is the historical piece, but we don’t want to stop there. And that’s where a lot of folks stop. And that’s more of a controller mindset.”
Scott Crawford on how to identify a “CF-No”:
“If a CEO goes to their CFO and says, ‘Hey, I’ve got this idea,’ and the response is, ‘Boss, we didn’t put that in the budget for this year. So I’ll tell you what: we are going to redo the budget in about six months. Why don’t we revisit that idea then, see if we can put it in the budget? But until then, there’s nothing in the budget to even research this idea.’ That’s a CF-No. And sometimes, regardless of their title, they take that posture because they can’t provide the forward look, so they have to defend the only thing they can do. The right approach to that, if you have a true CFO that’s integrated into the business, is, ‘Boss, that’s a very interesting idea. I’ll tell you what, give me a couple of days. If we could set a time to meet next week, let me come back to you and I’ll tell you what I think it would cost to implement that in resources and money, what the expected outcomes would be, perhaps expected best cases and worst cases. And then we can decide whether or not we want to find some way to make that happen.’ That is the right approach of a CFO supporting a CEO in both thought leadership and ‘What If.'”
Jerry Vance on making the right investments to grow:
“It’s important to understand, is the CEO really looking for a CFO? Do they really want a controller with a CFO title? Do you want this person you hire to help ‘save you’ to success or to help you make the right investments to build a successful company? And if they just want us to help save them to success, we can do that. A controller who’s really good at telling you ‘No’ can help you move in that direction to ‘save to success.’ But you need a real CFO that will help you make the right investments and figure out, ‘Okay, where should I say yes? Where should I invest to really build this company?’ And that’s why we love working with companies that work with CEO Coaching International, because those are companies that want to grow. They know they’re not going to save their way to success. They’re going to invest in a coach to help them achieve their goals, and they also want to invest in a CFO to help them get there as well.”
Links:
Why CFO Coaching Matters – Want to introduce new products, attract new investors, or pursue an M&A? Together with your CFO, you need to get a handle on your financial situation if you want to Make BIG Happen.
5 Key Strategies in Financial Modeling for Growth – CFO coach Daniel Kim shares real-world examples of how money management can either drive growth or unravel your company’s culture
About CEO Coaching International
CEO Coaching International works with CEOs and their leadership teams to achieve extraordinary results quarter after quarter, year after year. Known globally for its success in coaching growth-focused entrepreneurs to meaningful exits, the firm has coached more than 1,500+ CEOs and entrepreneurs across 100+ industries and 60 countries. Its coaches—former CEOs, presidents, and executives—have led businesses ranging from startups to over $10 billion, driving double-digit sales and profit growth, many culminating in eight, nine, or ten-figure exits.
Companies that have worked with CEO Coaching International for two years or more have achieved an average revenue CAGR of 25.9%, nearly 3X the U.S. average, and an average EBITDA CAGR of 39.2%, more than 4X the national benchmark.
Discover how coaching can transform your leadership journey at ceocoachinginternational.com.
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